Trauma-informed therapy isn’t a single technique—it’s an orientation to care that recognizes how profoundly trauma shapes a person’s nervous system, relationships, and sense of self. At Oak Tree Behavioral Services, trauma-informed principles are woven into everything we do: we ask ‘what happened to you?’ before ‘what’s wrong with you?’
What We Offer
Complex PTSD and developmental trauma
Childhood abuse, neglect, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
Sexual trauma and assault
Domestic violence and intimate partner violence
Medical trauma and traumatic illness
Racial and intergenerational trauma
Trauma in veterans and first responders
Secondary traumatic stress in caregivers and clinicians
How It Works
Trauma-informed therapy begins with safety and stabilization before any deep processing work. We use a phase-based model: establishing safety and building coping resources, processing traumatic material at a pace the nervous system can tolerate, and integration of new meaning and identity. Modalities include EMDR, trauma-focused CBT, somatic awareness, and narrative approaches.
Who This Is For
Anyone with a history of trauma—whether single-incident or complex/developmental—can benefit from trauma-informed care. We work with adults, teens, and children, and take special care with clients who have experienced re-traumatization in previous therapeutic relationships.
Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy go deeper than symptoms—they explore the unconscious patterns, early relationships, and hidden motivations that shape how you experience yourself and the world. If you’ve addressed surface symptoms but still feel something is unresolved at a deeper level, psychodynamic work may be the piece you’ve been missing.
What We Offer
Chronic depression or emptiness with unclear cause
Recurring relationship patterns that confuse or frustrate you
Identity struggles and a fragmented sense of self
Anxiety rooted in unconscious conflict
Personality patterns affecting relationships and work
Trauma with complex interpersonal roots
A desire to understand yourself more deeply
Feeling ‘stuck’ despite previous treatment
How It Works
Psychodynamic therapy is exploratory and open-ended. Sessions focus on your free associations, dreams, relationship patterns, and the therapeutic relationship itself as a window into your inner life. The pace is slower and the goals are deeper than symptom relief—we’re working to understand the structure of your psychology.
Who This Is For
Psychodynamic therapy is best suited for individuals who are psychologically minded, motivated to explore, and interested in understanding themselves rather than just managing symptoms. It’s often used alongside or after more structured approaches.
Person-centered therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, is built on a radical idea: that given the right conditions, people naturally move toward growth and healing. Rather than directing or diagnosing, the therapist provides unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuine presence—creating the relational conditions in which people find their own answers.
What We Offer
Self-exploration and personal growth
Identity and self-concept work
Life transitions and finding meaning
Depression and emotional emptiness
Anxiety rooted in self-judgment or perfectionism
Relationship patterns and attachment
Low self-worth and chronic self-criticism
Grief and loss
How It Works
Person-centered therapy is less structured than CBT or DBT—the client leads, and the therapist follows. Sessions are shaped by what you bring. The therapeutic relationship itself is the primary instrument of change. This approach is often integrated with other modalities rather than used in isolation.
Who This Is For
Person-centered therapy is well-suited for individuals seeking self-understanding, meaning-making, or personal growth—as well as those who have felt judged, pathologized, or unheard in previous therapeutic relationships. It works across the lifespan.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a gold-standard trauma treatment recognized by the American Psychological Association, the VA, and the World Health Organization. It helps the brain finish processing traumatic memories that got ‘stuck’—so they stop intruding on your present life. EMDR doesn’t require you to talk through your trauma in detail, making it accessible for people who have struggled with traditional talk therapy.
What We Offer
PTSD from combat, assault, accidents, or childhood trauma
Complex PTSD and developmental trauma
Phobias and performance anxiety
Grief and complicated loss
Disturbing memories that won’t go away
Panic disorder with identifiable triggers
Negative core beliefs rooted in past experience
Military sexual trauma (MST)
How It Works
EMDR follows a structured eight-phase protocol. After thorough preparation and stabilization, we identify target memories and process them using bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements or tapping). Clients often describe a natural desensitization—the memory remains, but its emotional charge diminishes significantly. Most EMDR treatment for a single trauma occurs within 6–12 sessions.
Who This Is For
EMDR is appropriate for adults and adolescents with trauma histories. It is particularly valuable for people who have already tried talk therapy and felt limited by it, or for those who find it difficult to verbalize their trauma experience.
The family is the most powerful shaping force in any person’s life. When family systems are struggling—whether from conflict, trauma, a member’s mental health or addiction, or simply the accumulated weight of unspoken things—family therapy offers a structured space to interrupt harmful patterns and build something healthier.
What We Offer
Parent-child conflict and communication breakdown
Blended family and step-family adjustment
Impact of addiction or mental illness on the family
Divorce, separation, and co-parenting
Sibling conflict and family roles
Grief and loss within the family system
Intergenerational trauma and family patterns
Family crisis support and stabilization
How It Works
Family therapy typically begins with a joint session to assess the full system, followed by a flexible combination of family sessions and individual work as indicated. We use family systems theory, Structural Family Therapy, and Emotionally Focused Family Therapy to identify patterns and create new ones.
Who This Is For
We work with families of all structures—biological, blended, adoptive, same-sex parent, multigenerational, and more. Sessions can include whoever is part of the relevant system, from young children to grandparents.
Firearm-informed therapy is a clinical approach that takes a client’s relationship with firearms seriously—without judgment, without agenda, and without the assumption that gun ownership is itself a problem. For millions of Americans, firearms are central to identity, vocation, culture, and safety. Clinicians who don’t understand that world can inadvertently alienate the very people who most need care.
What We Offer
Mental health therapy for firearm owners
Lethal means safety counseling and crisis planning
Therapy for veterans, first responders, and active duty
Suicide prevention with a Second Amendment-affirming lens
Support for law enforcement and military personnel
Family members of firearm owners navigating mental health concerns
Clinician training in firearm-informed practice
Integration of safe storage conversations into standard care
How It Works
Firearm-informed therapy doesn’t treat firearms as the problem—it treats the person. Our clinicians are trained to discuss firearms fluently and without stigma, to integrate lethal means safety naturally into treatment planning, and to build the kind of trust that allows gun-owning clients to engage honestly in therapy.
Who This Is For
We serve gun owners of all backgrounds, veterans, active-duty service members, law enforcement, first responders, hunters, competitive shooters, and anyone whose relationship with firearms intersects with their mental health. We also serve family members navigating concerns about a loved one who owns firearms.
Clinical rehabilitation counseling supports individuals whose physical health, disability, or injury has created significant psychological, vocational, or functional challenges. Our rehabilitation counselors help clients navigate the emotional and practical dimensions of living with disability, chronic illness, brain injury, or the aftermath of a significant medical event.
What We Offer
Adjustment to disability or chronic illness
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation support
Vocational and return-to-work counseling
Chronic pain and functional limitation
Psychosocial adjustment following injury or surgery
Coordination with medical and rehabilitation teams
Benefits and systems navigation
Identity and grief related to changed functioning
How It Works
Rehabilitation counseling integrates psychological support with practical planning. We address the emotional dimensions of functional loss—grief, identity disruption, anxiety, depression—alongside practical concerns like vocational goals, accommodation planning, and navigating disability systems.
Who This Is For
We serve individuals with physical disabilities, acquired injuries, TBI, chronic illness, and those transitioning back to work or community life following a major medical event. We frequently coordinate with physicians, occupational therapists, and vocational rehabilitation services.
Play is children’s language. Long before they have words for their experiences, children communicate through play—working through fear, loss, confusion, and trauma in the only language they’ve mastered. Play therapy is a structured, evidence-based approach that uses play as the primary therapeutic medium, meeting children exactly where they are developmentally.
What We Offer
Anxiety and fearfulness in young children
Grief and loss (including pet loss and family changes)
Trauma and abuse processing
Divorce, family transition, or new sibling adjustment
Behavioral challenges in young children
Social skills and peer relationship difficulties
ADHD-related struggles in early childhood
Selective mutism
How It Works
Play therapy sessions take place in a specially equipped playroom with a range of toys, art supplies, sand trays, and expressive materials. The therapist follows the child’s lead while observing themes and patterns in play, offering reflections and gentle interventions. Parents receive regular updates and are often involved in filial therapy components.
Who This Is For
Play therapy is most appropriate for children ages 3–12. It is particularly valuable for children who struggle to verbalize their experiences, have experienced trauma, or are going through significant life changes.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was originally developed for borderline personality disorder—but its skills-based approach to emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness has proven valuable for a wide range of conditions. DBT teaches you to hold two truths at once: you are doing the best you can, and you can do better.
What We Offer
Emotional dysregulation and mood instability
Self-harm and non-suicidal self-injury
Borderline personality disorder
Eating disorders
Substance use and impulsive behavior
Chronic suicidal ideation
Relationship instability and fear of abandonment
Trauma with significant emotional dysregulation
How It Works
DBT skills are organized into four modules: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotional Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. In individual therapy, we apply these skills to your specific challenges and work through the patterns that keep you stuck. We offer DBT-informed individual therapy; full DBT programs with skills groups are also available by referral.
Who This Is For
DBT is most commonly used with adolescents and adults who struggle with intense emotions, impulsive behavior, or self-destructive patterns. It’s particularly well-suited for people who have found other therapies insufficient.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most extensively researched form of psychotherapy in existence—with decades of clinical trials demonstrating its effectiveness across a wide range of conditions. CBT works on the principle that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected, and that changing unhelpful thinking patterns produces meaningful, lasting change in how we feel and act.
What We Offer
CBT for depression and low mood
CBT for anxiety, panic, and worry
CBT for OCD and intrusive thoughts
CBT for PTSD and trauma
CBT for chronic pain and illness
CBT for insomnia (CBT-I)
CBT for eating disorders (CBT-E)
CBT for substance use and addiction
How It Works
CBT is structured and goal-directed. Sessions involve identifying specific thought patterns and behavioral habits, examining the evidence for and against them, and practicing new ways of thinking and acting between sessions. Most CBT protocols are time-limited—many conditions respond significantly within 12–20 sessions.
Who This Is For
CBT is appropriate for adults, teens, and children (with age-appropriate adaptations). It works best for people who are motivated to engage actively between sessions, as homework and practice are integral to the approach.
